Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a method and an arrangement for manufacturing a dental bridge of the kind used to replace missing teeth in the mouth of a patient. The application also relates to an intermediate product used in the process of manufacturing such a dental bridge.
Description of the Related Art
Dental bridges are used to replace missing teeth on a patient's jaw. Such a bridge may be manufactured in a process that includes sintering of powder into a body that may subsequently be formed in a machining operation that may include, for example, milling, turning, grinding or drilling. An example of such a method is disclosed in WO 2006/025778. In that document, a method for producing a bridge structure from a ceramic blank is disclosed. The document discloses, inter alia, that machining of a bridge structure may be performed on material that is in a pre-sintered state. When a dental bridge structure is manufactured, it is desirable that the bridge structure can be made with a high degree of precision since it is normally made to fit a specific patient. Therefore, it is an object of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method that is capable of achieving a high precision. It is also an object to provide an arrangement for carrying out such a method. A further object is to provide an intermediate product suitable for making a dental bridge.